Memories of Jason Vargas

[G-Fafif]

At his best, he was Chris Capuano on a good day.



At his worst, he was Jason Vargas on a lot of days.

[MFS62]

The complete game shut out.

In this day and age, that ain't chopped liver.

Later

[dgwphotography]

He looks like my brother in law.



MrsDGW and I despise our brother in law

[Edgy MD]

Jon Lovitz is your brother-in-law?

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I didn't think a crafty old lefty is a bad thing to have. In fact, every good team should have one.



Sucking for the first 3 months of his Met return really hurt the team.



A decent contributor ever since even if he turned out to be an asshole.

[Frayed Knot]

He made such a bad first impression that it was always going to be near impossible for him to overcome it.

2018 could essentially be divided into thirds. 1st third: terrible. 2nd third: unavailable. Final third: pretty darn good but by then it was TLTL

2019 didn't start off a whole lot better, but he righted the ship earlier and has been quite good recently.



He claimed there were things 'not being reported' which contributed to his words with the writer.

That may be and we'll likely never know the full story. But it's tough conjure up anything that could justify his 'knock you out' response.

[Edgy MD]

Ends his second tenure at 13-15 / 5.26 ERA. He made his first and only All-Star squad at 34. In retrospect, that may not typically be the best time to buy, but the Mets dove right in. I got the impression that he was explicitly signed to take the role of Bartolo Colón — to be the older, steadier, crafty pitcher on a staff otherwise filled with younger, dynamic, mercurial pitchers. In the end, he was older and mercurial.



Tomy. John surgery mid-season in 2015 kept him from pitching against the Mets in the World Series. I like to think Céspedes would have personally destroyed him, but who knows?



Has a reputation as a good hitting pitcher, but was something of a chump at the plate with the Mets, especially this season.

[batmagadanleadoff]

This card is from the 2nd series. (Collect 'em all)



https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48410650882_3561e519f7_z.jpg>

[Edgy MD]

Nice card. But poor Catwoman looks like she got caught in the middle of ... something.

[batmagadanleadoff]

I don't know what, but Jason doesn't seem to mind. I think Jason's about to have a Vargasm.

[ashie62]

A long haired version of Jon Lovitz

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

This card is from the 2nd series. (Collect 'em all) https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48410650882_3561e519f7_z.jpg>

What's on the backs of these cards?

[Lefty Specialist]

Yeah, he made a bad first impression that he was never going to get over. But arguably the second-best starter on the team this year. I'm certain that he will face the Mets in a Phillie uniform this year and bamboozle them.

[Fman99]

Traded for a soiled Anthony Quinn undershirt.

[Benjamin Grimm]

https://www.dhresource.com/0x0s/f2-albu-g7-M01-B2-75-rBVaSluIrn6AZNp5AACLutM56ww517.jpg/anthony-quinn-zobra-the-greek-classic-movie.jpg>

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I mentioned this in the other thread, but when he was good, he was good getting hard swingers to get themselves out. A greasy-haired ornery lefty slowballer in the tradition of, if not in the class of, Bob Ojeda

[Benjamin Grimm]

And when he was bad he was horrid.

[seawolf17]

I remember that he was mostly meh, had goofy hair, and then he threatened to beat up a reporter.



I also conflated him with Claudio Vargas for a long time.

[Edgy MD]

[Willets Point]

He had a good game in the Little League Classic. Now he gets to pitch in Pennsylvania more often.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: This card is from the 2nd series. (Collect 'em all) https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48410650882_3561e519f7_z.jpg> What's on the backs of these cards?

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48328698326_61cc606d3e_z.jpg>https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48418800156_a5ce53515b_z.jpg>

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I'd totally get a set

[batmagadanleadoff]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: I'd totally get a set

They're available only in stores, in packs, one series at a time. Just like card collecting was in 1969.

[whippoorwill]

Pleased at how good he was lately.

[smg58]

It seemed like every player Alderson signed in the 2017-2018 offseason got hurt, tried to play through an injury that they would have been better off not playing through (and the team would have been better off as well), but eventually performed at a level consistent with realistic expectations. But like with Bruce, the new GM treated Vargas like he was valueless when he wasn't.

[Edgy MD]

I'm pleased that a little over a year and half generated so many Jason Vargas memories.



Here's a phun phact: Jason Vargas pitched in 41 games over parts of three seasons (none of them complete) for the Mets, and ended up playing for three different general managers.